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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Electromechanical characterization of a bimorph piezo for Energy Harvesting applications in road infrastructures

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Piezoelectric materials can be used as a means of transforming ambient vibrations into electrical energy that can be stored and used to power other devices. With the recent surge of micro scale devices, piezoelectric power generation can provide a convenient alternative to traditional power sources used to operate certain types of sensors/actuators, telemetry, and MEMS devices. However, the energy produced by these materials is, in many cases, far too small to directly power an electrical device. In the present study, piezoelectric devices will be investigated and experimentally tested to determine each of their abilities to transform ambient vibration into electrical energy. Tested piezoelectric devices are the well-known bimorph piezoceramic material lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT- 5A). The numerical results estimate the efficiency of this device tested and identify the feasibility of their use in real world applications. The results presented in this paper show the potential of piezoelectric materials for use in power harvesting applications. The simulation is carried by coupling the FEA commercial code COMSOL Multyphysics© and QUCS©, an open-source integrated circuit simulator able to setup a circuit and simulate large-signal, small-signal and noise behaviour of the circuit coupled with the FEM model.